Catching the Sky
by Ebony Tear
Summary: "Everybody grows up, Blue."


_**Author's note:** _This _is _the first fanfiction I have attempted, so no promises on where it goes.

~Thanks for reading~

* * *

All Green wanted was some coffee.

After a long day at the Gym, he didn't want to deal with the people in town who would recognize him on his small walk to the coffeehouse. Or the long line of people who would be in his way at the coffeehouse. Or the occasional group of people who would gossip about him in the coffeehouse.

Green just wanted some damn coffee.

But that coffeehouse had the best coffee around. So deal with the people he would.

After a while, they would finally leave him be, but by then his coffee would have already cooled off. Of course, this would only worsen his mood. Then the people passing by the coffeehouse would look through the window and point at him. That, too, would only worsen his mood.

It was at this point on summer nights that the sun would begin to set, and Green would sit in his seat at the window to watch it.

The sky would start off blue, just like it always did. The traces of yellow would set in quickly and take the blue's place. They would last for the longest time before everything faded to red. After that, the sunset would stay for a little longer until the light died out altogether, and Green was left to himself in the darkness.

Then he would pick himself up as the coffeehouse was closing and go home.

It was all rather bothersome, but for that sunset, Green thought he could deal with it.

A certain day came, though, and for once it was not enough to cure his foul mood.

"I can't believe he blew me off," the brunette muttered watching the twilight fall.

Red, the ever-famous champion of the ninth Indigo League Tournament, was supposed to meet Green that day. Although he was constantly out training and battling any who asked, his childhood friend always came to see him once a month. Yellow, too. Green could only imagine her disappointment. If Red had blown him off, that probably meant he'd done the same to Yellow.

The Gym Leader sighed. He would have to check on her tomorrow.

The petite blonde still lived in the same house that she always had, out in the Viridian Forest with her uncle. She had opened a small art shop in town a few years ago, and Green would often see her bustling around the store on his way to the coffeehouse. On occasion she would join him for a drink, and the two would spend time catching up, but they were both so busy with their own lives that this nearly never happened. The few times it did were normally the days that Red would come to visit. Other than that, Green rarely saw her.

Sighing, the brunette leaned back into his seat. His coffee was gone, the sunset had died, and here he was, still brooding over the betrayal of his friend.

"I didn't need another surprise today," he scoffed.

Green's day had been full of unanticipated events. Like the light at his Gym. The loose light in the ceiling had been wobbly lately, but Green hadn't expected it to fall completely and shatter in the middle of the battlefield. And he certainly hadn't expected it to throw him off so much that he would lose to the challenger he had been currently battling. No, Green definitely hadn't seen himself losing money from his paycheck when he woke up that morning.

All the unexpectedness had really ticked him off, and Red's lack of appearance certainly didn't do anything to help. If one more surprise were to grace him that evening, Green thought he might just shatter the window beside him.

As he eyed it with consideration, the bell at the entrance went off. Green paid it no mind. The coffeehouse was about to close anyway. He slid out of his booth, placed a tip on the table, and made his way towards the door. The brunette was nearly outside when perhaps the most unexpected thing that day happened.

"Yes, I was wondering if you had any positions open?"

Green stopped. He knew that voice.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but we don't at this time."

Eyes narrowed curiously, he turned back into the shop. There, at the front counter, was the back of a girl he hadn't seen in well over a year. Her brown hair nearly reached her hips now, but he would recognize that red skirt and white hat anywhere.

"Oh, really?" There was a sigh. "Alright, thank you. Could I at least get a frappe?"

The cashier girl behind the counter smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, but we're getting ready to close for the night."

Green pulled the door closed behind him. "Actually, I was going to get another coffee before I left. Could you hold off a few minutes, miss?"

The young cashier blushed and nodded quickly. "I-I suppose it wouldn't hurt! The usual, Green-san?"

"Please," He nodded.

There was a brief moment of silence before the brunette still standing at the counter turned around and grinned. "Do my eyes deceive me?"

Green rolled his eyes as he walked over to the counter. "It's been a while, Blue."

She smirked wryly. "It can't have been _that _long."

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "At least a year."

"Well, when it comes to travelling the world, it's all about taking your time!" She playfully raised an eyebrow. "I see you're still hanging around here."

"Gym Leaders can't exactly move," he muttered in irritation.

"Still! You could probably do to get out more often." She sweatdropped. "Before I left, you barely spent any time away from the Gym. Only when Red would stop by from his journeys to say hi."

Green crossed his arms.

Blue gasped. "Don't tell me! You still do the same thing?!"

"I have a job," he said curtly. "I can't just leave and go sight-seeing."

She huffed. "Well, excuse me for wanting to know more than how to run a Gym."

Green rolled his namesake eyes. "So what are you doing here anyway? Had enough of the world already?"

Blue's mischief deflated with a frown. "It's Mummy and Daddy. They asked me to come home and settle down."

He narrowed his eyes. "And you just said yes?"

"Well, they were kind enough to send me money during my trip," she said glancing away, "and I figured it wouldn't hurt to stay put for a bit and try to pay them back."

"You're trying to find a job?" He asked in disbelief.

She nodded sadly. "Nothing permanent. As soon as I've earned enough money to repay them, I'll be off again. Unlike you, I'm not very fond of staying in one place for very long."

Green tilted his head toward her. "So, you're living in Viridian City?"

The blue-eyed woman's lips curved down gently. "If I can find a job. If not, then I'll move on."

"You should probably visit Yellow at some point then," he said. "I'm sure she'd enjoy that."

"Oh, I already did today," Blue said smiling gently. "She seems to be doing fine, but she told me that her uncle is sick at the moment."

Green glanced at her. "That's a shame."

"Yes." Shaking her head, Blue looked at the clock on the wall. "It's getting late! I think I'll be off now!"

He turned as she walked for the door. "It's pretty dark out. Should I walk you to your hotel?"

"No!" She laughed, a bit uneasily Green noticed. "I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself."

He narrowed his eyes slightly. "Be careful."

She left without another word. Green leaned against the counter, pondering her reaction. If not for the cashier girl bringing him his coffee, he might have stood there until closing time.

He handed her the money and took his coffee. "Thank you."

The girl blushed and nodded. "O-of course!"

He noticed she was holding a second cup. "I only ordered one."

"What?" The cashier leaned over the counter and looked around. "Did that lady leave? I thought she wanted a frappe...?"

Sighing inwardly, Green brought his wallet back out. "How much was it?"

After he paid for the second coffee, Green stepped out into the cooling night. He glanced around, hoping to find a glimpse of Blue anywhere. She'd just left not two minutes ago. There was no way she'd gone _that _far.

A street light suddenly flickered on down the road, and Green glanced over his shoulder to see her turning down a street. He walked quickly but not so that the coffee would spill. Upon reaching the road she had taken, he was perplexed to find that it didn't lead to a hotel. Instead, the path led out of town toward the Viridian Forest. He could have just called out her name to get her attention, but Green's suspicions were kicking in. He kept his mouth shut and followed her silently.

They had been walking perhaps a half hour when she suddenly disappeared through a thicket. Green paused when her voice came echoing from the other side.

"Urgh! Sorry, guys! First day was a bust!"

Green walked up to the bushes. He could hear the disappointed cries of various Pokemon answering Blue.

"Don't worry! I'm sure I'll have better luck tomorrow!"

Stepping through the shrubbery, Green's narrowed eyes promptly widened. "...Blue?"

Said girl glanced up at him sharply. She stood in a small clearing, her Pokemon nestled in the grass all around. There was a makeshift fire pit in front of her, and a small tent sat nearby.

She looked absolutely flabbergasted. "Green? What are you doing here?"

"Shouldn't I be asking that?" He asked.

Blue turned and quickly began pushing him back from whence he came. "Nothing! I was just, uh, camping."

Green didn't budge. "I thought you were staying in a hotel."

She glanced down.

He narrowed his eyes. "Blue, what's going on?"

She sighed heavily and let him go. "Fine, I'm busted." Walking over to her Blastoise, she sat down on his shell. "_This _is where I'm living at the moment."

Green glanced around the campsite in surprise. "What? Why?"

"I told you," Blue said stretching her arms. "Mummy and Daddy asked me to settle down."

"Out here?" He raised an eyebrow.

"It's cheaper than paying for a hotel," she pointed out. When he glared at her, she sighed again. "Okay, truth be told, they forced me to come back home. They said they couldn't keep funding me forever and that I had to start earning my own money."

"They cut you off," Green summarized.

Blue nodded with an anxious smile. "We sort of got into a fight. They want me to pay back the money I borrowed from them, so I wasn't exactly lying when I said that I had to get a job."

"How big is the debt?" Green asked.

"A million yen."

He nearly dropped the coffees. "You're kidding me."

She shook her head. "I wish I was."

"How do you waste that much money in a year?!" He shouted in disbelief.

"I didn't _waste _it!" She yelled back indignantly. "I just...lived well is all."

Green chuckled emptily to himself. "A million yen...how do you expect to pay back that much money?"

"I don't know, okay?!" Blue threw her hands up. "There was no way I could find a place to live with the amount I had left, so I used the rest of it to fly here and see Yellow."

He frowned. "Why Yellow?"

She rested a fist on her forehead. "I thought I might be able to stay with her for a while before I could get on my own feet. But with her uncle sick and having to take care of her shop, I wasn't going to impose on her like that."

"What?" Green asked pointing at the tent. "So you're just going to live in the woods?"

"Until I can make that money up, yeah," Blue nodded.

He scoffed. "That could take months, Blue."

"You think I don't know that?" She flopped over on her Blastoise's shell. "I don't really have a choice. Besides, it's summer, so the nights shouldn't be too bad."

Green shook his head, and an idea suddenly came to him. He didn't quite like the idea, but as annoying as she could be, he couldn't just leave her out here.

The brunette ran a hand over his face and sighed. "Pack your stuff."

The other brunette perked. "Eh? Why?"

Green glared at her. "I'm taking you home."

Blue grinned. "Wait, really?!"

"Yeah, really," Green muttered.

Blue jumped off the Blastoise and bounced over to him. "That's awfully sweet of you, Greeny! Why the sudden act of kindness?"

His eyebrow twitched slightly. "Would you rather I left you here?"

"No, no, say no more!" She rushed to the tent and dove inside. "This is just so out of character! I never would've guessed...of all people, Mr. Cold and Uncaring is taking me in!"

"Whatever," Green growled. He was going to regret this in the morning.

Blue gasped, sticking her head out of the tent. "I know why! You just want a pretty girl staying with you! How scandalous!" She smirked and went back to getting her things. "However, I'm a kind person! I'll overlook this little matter, but you better keep your hands to yourself!"

Green gritted his teeth. He was already regretting it.


End file.
